The Shootout: Part 2
Just outside of town, the Sheriff saw the rock outcropping growing larger. The road to the DA went right through the middle of the outcropping. It was a kill zone. He raised a tentacle ordering his men to slow and spread out.
“This one orders you to hide your bikes in the brush and take cover behind those rocks,” he said, “This one thinks this is the ideal place for the ambush. The criminals will have grown complacent and think they have it made. We shall show them otherwise.”
“Won’t they suspect something is up?” one of the posse members asked.
“Why would they? Just be quiet and open fire on them when this one gives the signal,” the Sheriff said, “They will not know what hit them, and this one will add their bodies to the wall as an example to others. Now be quick about it.”
The posse ditched their bikes and took cover behind the rocks as instructed. Soon they could see the dust being kicked up by the mecha-steeds approaching.
~ ~ ~ ~
Morgan had eased up to the point of joining the group again with Dahlia. Apparently riding in silence was in, and Morgan did his best to enjoy the ride. Everybody was still together.
It probably wouldn’t last. The outskirts of the town were becoming clearer. With the distance a person could see on Duellos, it was never out of sight during the day, but the buildings could be made out now. There were even clouds of dust indicating activity outside of town.
Morgan brought up alongside Jess. Rather than break the peace, he gave her a look of knowing approval. Whatever was behind the Captain’s appearance, if anything, wasn’t something Morgan was privy to, but he had a bit of an idea now. An admiration had grown within him for her, aside from other feelings he did his best to keep aside, particularly since the future was so uncertain.
Anika wasn’t nearby, and Morgan considered what she must be going through with Naleena. At some point, everyone would know. And then there would be a parting of ways.
But why?
“What a daydream to think,” Morgan accidentally blurted aloud. Why they couldn’t all stay together was because of the Audron, of course, and the Spectre. Where the ship went, so did the mission. The Collectors, and all the threat that came with them, were of course the priority. But even with what happened at the compound, they weren’t personally for Morgan. He was never the type who could do anything for the greater good.
Survival was first. And there hadn’t been time for much else beyond that, as much as he would have liked there to be. The dust cloud appeared to subside. Morgan used his Kuwashii visor to magnify his vision. It was difficult to make out visually at range, but his heads-up display assisted with data assessment. Morgan frowned. It seemed there was a group of hover bikes, breaking up and heading out of sight. He caught a glimpse of one of the bike silhouette which was much larger, really a car or a trike, something with the front of a bike and an open compartment in the rear. It glinted momentarily in the sun. Whatever was in that open compartment was tall enough to stand out from it, pink and glistening.
Befuddled, Morgan exclaimed, “Is that a hanar?”
Gunfire erupted from behind the rocks. Some of the rounds hit the dirt in front of the steeds, and some hit the steeds. One round hit Naleena and knocked her off her steed. It was in her armor, and she managed to crawl behind one of the rocks on the left side of the road. She rubbed her left shoulder for a moment, and then pulled her sniper rifle and flipped the IR scope and scanned the area.
Irina dismounted, dragging Zenon behind her. She stayed crouched and moved to her right. Zenon still had the Phalanx pistol.
“Zenon, just stay low and watch my back,” Irina said, “Don’t try to be a hero. Stay behind the rocks. They’re going to try to keep us pinned down and circle around behind us. So watch the terrain off to our right, and let me know if you see any movement.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Zenon said and smiled at Irina.
“You’re alright, kid.” Irina said as she began to lay down suppressing fire.
Dahlia saw that Naleena was hit. “Naleena!” she shouted from her position near Morgan.
“I’m alright. I count 14 of them!” Naleena said, “One is the Sheriff.”
Lost in her own world, a world where she was trying to think what she should do concerning her return to the Medusa, Jess was taken completely by surprise when those up ahead cried out. She looked up in time to see Naleena fall as her steed rode on before registering the loss of it's rider. It came to a slow halt and stood, waiting.
Jess then saw her shield belt flare as a bullet aimed right between her eye's was caught...... as the barrier dissipated she had already flung her steed into a tight turn and she heard more weapons fire erupt from above. As concerned as she was
for her life she was also concerned for her steed. Unlike her it was not shielded, and carried the data from the compound.
And from what she had seen..... the steed's speed was the only thing keeping them ahead of the processed..... collectorfied..... Numan's?
They needed a name. Her shield caught another round and her belt vibrated indicating imminent failure. She should probably concentrate. A recess offered the only cover for Baldurjack and she ran him towards it, sliding him so that his flank banged into the side wall. Then she was off and running towards rock cover of her own as weapons fire danced around her zig zag dash. Her vision flared and her belt beeped indicating it was cycling having lost it's barrier charge. She dove forward, arms out flying through the air towards the nearest cover and half rolled, half flung herself behind a rock formation where she scrambled back towards the protection it offered. Breathing hard her hands went down to her pistols and came up one short.
Looking back she saw Sinbad lying on the ground, not far, but far wnough that she'd be riddled if she tried to get it. Looking up she saw those that followed and waved them back. "Go around"! She screamed as Bernard appeared in her grip. The pistol snapping into it's ready position with a snap as if eager to return what was coming their way. "Stay back and go around"!
A round winged off her cover sending rock chip and dust flying. Jess waited, trying to get a feel of where the shots were shots coming from and when they were likely to reload.......
Screw concentration. They were trying to kill her. She pulled out a grenade.
Anika saw what was happening and made to charge forward when she heard Jess calling out for them to stay back. She bit her lip, then took off on her steed off to the left looking for a way up to the tops of the rocky pass.
Loathe as she was to admit it Jess was right. Walking into that area was like being a fish in a barrel. They needed to pull the heat off those who were caught and hope they could survive long enough for them live.
Pulling to the side of the pass where an outcrop shielded her from incoming fire she planted her hands on the steed and brought her feet up and onto it's saddle before leaping up the rock wall. Her genetic enhancement saw her half way up before gravity tried to take hold. Scrambling, she found hand holds and hauled herself up. Reaching the top she rolled herself up and raised her head to take a quick look around.
Movement caught her attention she reached behind her back for the collector rifle. They were two and making a long trip around them to attack the group from behind. Not while she drew breath.
Rising up and planting the rifle to her shoulder she smiled at the absensse of safety catch Collector weapons lacked and triggered a beam of yellow energy that slammed into the man at the rear. The smell of meat came wafting through the air following on from the man's scream. Anika shifted her aim to send the beam skewing across to hit his friend. He however saw what was happening and had the presence of mind to drop down. The beam lancing over his head.
The Collector rifle was growing hot in her hands and suddenly it shut down with a fading ringing tone.
Dammit.
The one left alive was standing with his mouth agape, rattled as he looked at his friend whose body had fallen to the ground at odd angles, his body nearly cut clean in two.
Anika roared and charged, bearing down on the man.
The man looked up to see a seven foot woman in a poncho and sombrero bearing down on him with a gun that was leaving smoke trails in her wake.
His courage failed. He turned and ran.
++++++
From behind a large set of boulders in the outcrop, Naleena found a flat spot where she could lay prone. She contacted Morgan on communicator. "Morgan, there are two tangos circling on your left. I can't get a shot at them, but I've got themon IR. They're about 30 meters from you. Steady.... Steady.... Take them."
"Acknowledged. Thanks," Morgan said, and he turned to face his attackers.
Then she turned and saw a Turian aiming a Krysae at Jess' direction. She had him in her sights and two shots rang out from her Black Widow piercing the Turian's skull. She recycled her weapon.
++++++
Vayne had been in his own thoughts before he saw naleena get nailed and a barrage of rounds go off. He snarled as he tried
to look ahead, but couldn't get the chance with the rounds firing off so quickly that his shields had been widdled down to
almost 1/2 in the short time it'd taken him to draw his gun.
"S***!" he exclaimed as he moved the steed off the road, heading towards a lone outcropped rock before his shields read
they were dangerously close to failing. He looked around a moment, needing some cover when an idea came to him, and he
pushed himself off the side of his mecha-steed. He ducked low as he used the heavy mech-horse as a walking cover, rounds
pinging off its sides as he walked to the outcropping or rocks and got behind them.
He looked to the others, not sure how many made it to cover and how many had been taken down by this ambush. "Whoever's
shooting better have a coffin picked out." he commented as he opened up his omni-tool.
++++++++++
Vayne cycled through his omni-tool until he found what he was looking for, getting his omnibow ready with its concussive
arrows. The gunfire had died a tiny bit, and the krogan looked to the rocks as he couldn't help but grin. Bad as this
situation was, he'd at least picked a good set of armor for it.
Vayne got out of cover and aimed his wrist, arrows laser lining up with one of the men who thought he'd be easy to pick off and had stood up from his covered position to get better aim. The arrow fired and head the man right in the throat, and he fell back as his windpipe compacted in on itself, blood vessels popping from the blunt force trauma, as the person next to him looked down in shock.
Vayne aimed his shotgun pistol and fired, the round thundering out as a cloud of steam poured from the heatclip, quickly cooling the coils as the powerful round punched a sizable chunk of rock at the distracted shooter. The shooter was blasted to the ground as the debris flew at him, pelting him with what would definably leave a considerable bruise, but little else. Clutching his welting shoulder in pain, he began to try and scramble away, deciding he'd had enough of this entire fiasco.
Vayne meanwhile was now back behind his steed, breathing heavily as he winced slightly, examining his now dented up breastplate and leggings. Thank god his armor was tungsten made, or he'd had been resembling krogan cheese right about now, bleeding and slightly irradiated.
~ ~ ~ ~
A near miss yanked the hat off Morgan’s head. He activated his tech armor and ducked in his saddle. Vayne’s move to cover behind his mecha-steed was a distraction that helped Morgan, who spurred his mount into a gallop and pulled to the side. The terrain, a pass through high rocks, provided plenty of cover for the attackers.
Jess rode ahead of Morgan. He saw her dismount, fling herself in the direction of a rock formation, and shout to stay back and go around. It was too late for Morgan as the shooting was already heading his way. He spotted Sinbad, the pistol he had assembled for her, dropped and sitting in the open.
An idea crossed Morgan’s mind that if he had actually thought about, would never have become a reality. Morgan pushed his mount onward. Shots hit his mecha-steed and tech armor. He slid slightly off the steed to the far side of the incoming fire and headed for Sinbad. Concentrating, the world around Morgan slowed, and he reached down to snatch the pistol as he passed. With no room for error, in a split second, he grabbed Sinbad and flung it Jess’s way. The arc was perfect and the pistol landed next to her foot safely.
It would have worked magnificently if the ambushers were only using guns. Racing past Jess and her position, Morgan was righting himself in the saddle when he was hurled from his mount by an unseen force. He crashed into the rock face nearby, stunning him and collapsing his tech armor. The steed kept going and Morgan fell to the ground in the open. Dazed, and unsure exactly what he was hit by, Morgan had enough of his wits about him to roll behind an adjacent outcropping.
Smelling blood, the two ambushers Naleena had warned about advanced on Morgan. One was carrying a rocket launcher. Morgan lost himself as a survival mechanism took over that went beyond even his enhanced state of awareness. His Kovalyov lost with his steed, Morgan drew the Scimitar shotgun and started laying down blasts at his foes from the ground. Taken over by sheer impulse, his aim suffered, but the amount of projectiles he sent forth was withering. The ambusher with a standard rifle fired and hit Morgan in the shoulder, but it didn’t even slow him down. Morgan rent the ambusher with phasic shells that passed through his shields. The body of the attacker went to pieces.
The second ambusher fired his rocket launcher. Morgan was able to hit him directly in the head with the Scimitar before the rocket impacted. It went wide, but Morgan was unable to avoid the blast. He was pitched again, this time to the side and across the battlefield.
Ears ringing and vision out of focus, wherever Morgan landed, he wasn’t shot at. An unknown companion shouted out, and Morgan raised his hand to indicate he was okay, although he hadn’t made a point to check. Morgan could feel the medigel squeeze into his suit and he looked down to make sure there were no major parts of him missing. Everything was where it was supposed to be, though blackened or smoldering. Morgan fumbled for the shotgun, which landed next to him. He had to keep checking his body from the sheer shock that he was still alive.
++++++
Dahila let loose with a shockwave that sent flying a couple of the attackers that were hiding behind the rocks, stunning them when they landed. The first one was a batarian. He recovered from his flight quickly and aimed his Kishock at Dahlia. She charged, staggering the Batarian and fired her claymore point blank, killing him instantly. His squadmate fled to a vantage point behind rocks further up into the outcrop. Dahlia took pursuit, and had him pinned down.
Naleena saw the man, so she cloaked and slipped around several small rock outcrops, and several plants that resembled cacti. She had to be careful not to get in anyone's line of fire. This was more difficult than it seemed, however she managed to get behind one of the posse members, that had failed morale. She drew her dagger, grabbed him, threw him to the ground which caused her to decloak.
++++++
"Irina! Look out!" Zenon shouted. She went prone like Irina had told her earlier, and fired her pistol over at something moving in what resembled sagebrush. Her shots went wide but the person moving in them ducked and rolled behind a nearby rock.
"Thanks!" Irina rolled and took a different position near her, fired her Mattock at the rock and motioned for Zenon to stay put and keep firing. She handed her two thermal clips, and signaled that she was going to circle back and right. "Remember, Zenon, no more than two or three shots and then duck back into cover, and keep the timing random. He's going to be watching for you. Change your shot angle to the other side of the rock, too."
Zenon nodded.
Irina kept low to the ground in a crouch run, and Zenon layed down suppressing fire. She wasn't hitting anything except terrain nearby the enemy, but it was good enough to keep his attention. Irina had him in her sights, and noticed he wasn't alone. She wanted both of them. 'Keep the heat on, Zenon.' She drew her shotgun and crept crouch ran up close to the first one, rolled and let him have the first barrel in the face from five feet. She rolled to the side, and his partner moved away just as she fired the second barrel. Irina reloaded, and pursued him into the desert, but not too far; just far enough to have him pinned down away from the main group. Then he decided to slip back into town. She kept an eye on him just in case he changed his mind.
++++++
Jess kept her head down as a small scale war seemed to erupt around her. People were charging, people were running, shouting, darting away, seeking shelter, looking for advantage. And here she was behind a rock as tall as her waist with her back to the sun warmed surface sat on her backside with her head tucked while shots rained down where she hiding. Morons and idiots. That was who they were fighting. They were actively shooting up a rock right now. Of course.... they had enough sense to rotate their firing. One seemed to empty a clip and the other one took over keeping her pinned. It occured to her that that, was their purpose. Keep her penned in and pinned down while other came up from behind and negated the cover advantage.
Things were crazy. Morgan had thrown her Sinbad and he was now nestled in her grip while Bernard was holstered to her thigh. A type 14 grenade with the fins extended ready and waiting for it's time to make it's presence known. Things were crazy. She'd lost track of everyone as they left her field of vision. Maybe they were dead and she was all that was left.
When things got crazy, assume the worst, hold nothing back. Her shield belt chimed and a barrier shimmered around her before going back into hot standby mode. A round would trigger it. It had taken three shots to bring it down. She could do this. Breathing hard into her respirator she flooded her lungs with oxygen, feeding her blood, halting the rising adrenaline spike, giving her back the use of her limbs as she focused on the sound of gunfire. Waiting...... waiting......
The gunfire increased as the first gun's chatter was added to by a second. Still Jess waited, and sure enough, the gunfire petered out to just one again.
Guessing it meant one of the two men up above was reloading Jess pulled her feet under her and half ran, half leapt out of her cover. The time in cover had allowed her to get a good idea of where the two opponent's were and she'd already zero'd in on where they lay atop the rocks even as her arm was drawn back to throw the grenade. The man above saw her leave cover and his SMG followed her even as her arm completed it's swing and the grenade flew even as her barrier lit up from the gun fire.
She felt a stinging pain in her left arm and her barrier was no longer shining as she hit the ground and rolled to the side, against the wall the two opponent's sat upon. Bringing up her synthetic arm her Omnitool was up and she jabbed a finger from the hand holding Sinbadm, at the detonation controller. Noticing as she did that something hot and sticky was running down something somewhere......
The ridge above exploded and two figures flew up and into the pass as rocks came crashing down that mingled with the sceams of terror. Or pain. Or both Jess hoped. The rocks came down amoung the bodies hiding the wet sounds of bodies being mushed and Jess sank backwards. Lancing pain was beginning to registerand she looked over to her left arm and saw a deep graze from one of the SMG rounds that had come close to smashing into her shoulder joint. Like she needed to lose another arm.
Gritting her teeth she pulled herself up. Gunfire was intermittant. It sounded like things were resolving themselves. For good or for ill for her and her group she didn't know as she slapped a hand over her wound.
Anika.
Anika had the medigel. She had to find her. Maybe the other's too if they hadn't been killed by the ambush.
She staggered out looking for her companions. Morgan and Naleena were the closest ones to her, she thought. She glanced again, and only Morgan was in sight.
"Dammit!"
The breeze picked up and blew dust across the road in front of her. Alto stratus clouds blocked out the sun giving a moment of relief in Duellos' high desert plain. Jess looked straight ahead, and 30 paces away on the road hovered the most feared being in the colony: the Sheriff.
Coming Soon: The Showdown with the Sheriff!
Retour en haut
